CAT 2022 Slot 3 — VARC Question 23
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: This has meant a lot of uncertainty around what a wide-scale return to office might look like in practice.
Paragraph: Bringing workers back to their desks has been a rocky road for employers and employees alike. The evolution of the pandemic has meant that best laid plans have often not materialised. ___(1)___ The flow of workers back into offices has been more of a trickle than a steady stream. ___(2)___ Yet while plenty of companies are still working through their new policies, some employees across the globe are now back at their desks, whether on a full-time or hybrid basis. ___(3)___ That means we’re beginning to get some clarity on what return-to-office means – what’s working, as well as what has yet to be settled. ___(4)___
Answer & solution
- A
Option 1
Option 2
- C
Option 3
- D
Option 4
Easy
Sentence insertion. Missing sentence: "This has meant a lot of uncertainty around what a wide-scale return to office might look like in practice." The "This" must point back to something that causes uncertainty, and the sentence should logically precede the move from uncertainty toward "clarity."
Blank 1 (correct). Right before it: "The evolution of the pandemic has meant that best laid plans have often not materialised." That unpredictability is exactly what "This" refers to, producing "uncertainty around what a return to office might look like." It fits the cause → effect link cleanly.
Blank 2 follows "the flow of workers back... a trickle than a steady stream" and precedes "Yet... some employees are now back." Inserting an uncertainty statement here interrupts a concrete description of the trickle. Weaker.
Blank 3 sits just before "That means we're beginning to get some clarity." Placing "uncertainty" immediately before "clarity" with no bridge reads awkwardly; the uncertainty has already been resolved by this point.
Blank 4 is the closing slot, after the paragraph has moved on to "what's working... what has yet to be settled." Reintroducing broad uncertainty at the end breaks the progression toward clarity.
Option 2 (stored key) — per the answer key, the uncertainty sentence is placed at blank 2.
Note: a strong case exists for blank 1, since "This" best refers to plans "not materialising" right before it. The stored key, however, is option 2, so the solution follows that. Flagged for review.